How We Research Products | Trusted Products

Every research page on Trusted Products is built the same way. This page explains how, and what the limits are.

The short version

We start with the manufacturer’s own specifications and official information, and link to the sources.
We read published owner feedback and tell you where it came from, how much of it there was and when we looked.
Most of our pages are desk research: they summarise evidence rather than report our own testing. A small number are reviewed in person and clearly marked.

Desk research and in-person reviews

Most of our pages are desk research: we haven’t used the product, and each such page says so. When a page tells you how a product performs, that comes from the manufacturer’s information, from owners’ published experiences or from independent test results that we cite. Where a page gives our own interpretation, it says so. A small number of pages are reviewed in person. They are marked “Reviewed in person”, say whether we bought the product or it was supplied free by the manufacturer or distributor, and keep our notes from using it separate from the research. Reviews written before March 2022 by the previous owners are marked as archive reviews.

How we build a research page

Identify the exact product. We confirm the make, model and variant, because similar products often have different specifications.
Record the specifications. We take them from the manufacturer’s datasheet, manual or product page, and link to the source and the date we checked.
Check official information. For safety and recalls we look at official UK sources (see Product safety and recalls). For other topics we use official sources such as government, regulators and standards bodies where they exist.
Read owner feedback. We read published feedback and look for points that keep coming up, good and bad.
Separate claim, report and interpretation. A manufacturer’s claim, an owner’s reported experience and our own reading of the evidence are labelled differently, so you can see what each rests on.
Date it. Each page shows when it was last checked. We change that date only when we have checked and changed the page.

Where owner feedback comes from

Retailer reviews: published customer reviews on UK retailers’ sites.
Forums and communities: public discussions where owners compare experiences.
Manufacturer support pages: FAQs, support articles and known-issue notices.
Independent test organisations: published test results, which we cite and link.

How we treat owner feedback

Reviews can be unrepresentative, and some are incentivised or not genuine. So we look for patterns rather than single comments, say how many reviews we read and where, and treat small samples as a weak signal. We paraphrase feedback. We don’t present quotes as testimonials, and we don’t invent or write reviews.

Manufacturer claims

Figures such as “up to 50 minutes” or “up to 45% faster” are the manufacturer’s claims, usually measured under test conditions. We label them as claims and don’t treat them as results.

Prices

We generally don’t show prices, because they change. Where we do, we give the date.

Keeping pages up to date

We set a review date for each page, depending on how likely its subject is to change, and we revisit it sooner if we learn of a recall, a rule change or a new version of the product.

What we don’t do

We don’t claim to have used a product unless we have.
We don’t accept payment for coverage, rankings or positive wording.
We don’t give scores, badges or awards unless we publish exactly how they were worked out.
We don’t invent reviews, testimonials or named reviewers.

Limits

Our pages are research summaries, not professional advice. Check the specification and compatibility with your own situation before you buy. If we’ve made a mistake, please tell us: see Corrections.